


Sidewalk Chalk

by Wintergrew



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Banana Fish Reverse Big Bang, Beach Holidays, Canon Compliant, Flashbacks, Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:40:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24690199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wintergrew/pseuds/Wintergrew
Summary: Eiji convinces Ash to let them take a weekend away, hoping that it will help them both. But is a weekend trip to The Hamptons something Ash really needs?For the Banana Fish RBB. Art by prologhe
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 15
Kudos: 82
Collections: Banana Fish Reverse Big Bang





	Sidewalk Chalk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prologhe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prologhe/gifts).



> Hey everyone! It feels like it has been so long since I wrote Banana Fish! I still love it, so it was nice to have the RBB as an excuse to revisit them.

_“I want that!” Ash pointed up from the basket of the cart he sat in towards a sign. His fingers were covered in melted chocolate chips from the cookie Griff snuck for him in the bakery section. He always assured his little brother that it wasn’t_ really _stealing because everyone did it and none of the employees really cared._

_“No,” Griff said as he turned and put his handles on the shopping cart, “You know we can’t afford that.”_

_“But I want it!” The little boy’s eyes widened and he bit his bottom lip. The six year old knew just how to flash a puppy dog look to melt through nearly anyone’s heart._

_“Ash,” he sighed, putting his weight on the handle of the cart to give him an equally sympathetic look, “What about our Nintendo 64? Don’t you still like that?”_

_Ash gave a dramatic groan, leaning back in the cart, “Johnny’s dad is getting him one!”_

_“I’m not Johnny’s dad,” Griff retorted._

_Ash looked up at the big Wii poster. Coming November 2006. $249.99. He didn’t know that it was more than Griff made in a day bussing tables for minimum wage at the Applebees in town._

_“Maybe Santa will get it for me then.” Ash crossed his arms._

_“Maybe,” Griff sighed, pushing the cart forward._

_“I really want one,” Ash repeated._

_“I know you do.” Griff scratched the back of his head. Ash didn’t respond. Griff kept pushing the cart down the aisle in silence, sans the generic music the store blasted quietly through the speakers in the background. He picked up the basic necessities they needed, generally going for the generic brands. Money was tight lately._

_“Hey Griff,” Ash finally broke the silence as he lightly shook the off-brand cheerio box._

_“Hm?”_

_“How come other kids get more toys?”_

_Griff didn’t answer at first._

_It was a question to be expected, given how young Ash was. Yet he didn’t often, being a pretty well behaved and mature kid most of the time. Yet it bothered him. How other kids wore brand new clothes, while Ash wore second hand clothes that were often stained and worn. How other kids would bring cool toys in for show and tell, while Ash only had a worn stuffed bear that was one of few things given to him from his mother. How other children went on vacation to Europe, to Disney World, to the Carribean, while the most Griff could really offer was camping at a parkground not that far away._

_Ash knew Griff_ wanted _to give his little brother everything every other kid had. He worked as hard as he could to do all that he could for him. But Griff was still practically a kid himself, with little help from their father. It wasn’t fair to either of them._

_“I’ll buy you something,” Griff said after a long pause._

_“Oh?” The boy’s green eyes grew wide as he tilted his head in curiosity._

_“How about…” Griff’s eyes scanned the aisles. “How about chalk?”_

_“Chalk?”_

_“Yeah,” he said with a smile as he reached for a bucket of colorful sidewalk chalk near a checkout lane. He handed it to his brother. “Forget the Wii or any video games, this is the_ real _fun.”_

_“How so?”_

_“Because…” He leaned down, his smile even wider. “With this, you can create everything you want. We can decorate our driveway and sidewalk with all the beautiful pictures you want. You can create your own stories with it.”_

_“Really?” his green eyes sparkled._

_“Really,” Griff laughed, ruffling Ash’s blond hair._

_“Can we do it when we get home?”_

_“Of course! As long as it's not raining.”_

_\---_

“Hey boss,” a voice broke Ash Lynx back into reality.

“Hm?” Ash asked Alex, the person who called out to him, in an airy voice. It was only then he realized that he had been absentmindedly staring outside the window. It was pouring rain in New York City.

“You look a little out of it,” Alex said. The other members of his gang sat around them on the expensive sofas and chairs of the condo, equally puzzled in expression.

“Yeah,” Ash said, shaking his head. He rubbed his forehead, sweeping his shaggy blond bangs out of his face. “I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

“Right,” Alex said. His face softened for a moment before turning serious. “Well, Bones and Kong are gonna go over to the Bronx to see about potential _allies_ this weekend.”

“Yeah,” Bones agreed, playfully punching Kong on the arm. “Should be some fun, if ya know what I mean.”

“Other than that, Dino’s been layin’ low for quite a while. Any other orders, Boss?”

“I...uh,” Ash said, stumbling on his words. He really _was_ out of it. “Um, I think that should be good. You two go do that. I’m just...I think we can meet up again Tuesday, alright?”

“And in the meantime?” Alex asked.

“I uh...lay low,” Ash said, “Take a break. Keep your guard up for anything suspicious but…You know, take a break...” He trailed off.

“Uh...right!” Alex said, trying his best to not look concerned.

“Anyway, that’s all for today,” Ash said. His tone turned into the more serious, bosslike one his gang was used to. “Be back here on Tuesday. Got it?”

“Got it!” The entire gang said it in near unison.

Ash said a few more words, though they felt more like they came via an autopilot. Members of his gang said a few more words to him and to each other, but gradually made their way out of the apartment, into the hallway and beyond.

As Ash saw them out, he returned to the living room. It was quiet, only the sound of the pouring rain pattering against the large glass windows. He stood up and pulled the curtains shut and tied the strings in a knot. He looked at it for just a moment before turning awau and collapsing back onto the sofa.

A light knock on the door broke the all-but-rain silence. It wasn’t coming from the front door, thankfully. He didn’t want a gang member to come back claiming they forgot something in his bathroom. No, it was coming from the door within the condo.

“Hi Ash,” Eiji said with a smile as he opened the door. He struggled to open it while carrying a tray with a teapot and two cups.

“Hey," Ash said. He sat up. “You need help?”

“No, I’ve got it!” Eiji said with a grin that met with his big brown eyes. He walked over and carefully put the tray on the small table in front of the sofa. “I heard everyone leave, so I figured you might want some tea. It’s jasmine.”

“Thanks,” Ash said, smiling back. He reached over to the teapot and poured himself a cup of the steaming tea. Eiji reached out a hand to try to protest, wanting to pour it himself, but Ash merely let out a light chuckle and poured it for both of them. 

“Rainy day, isn’t it?” Eiji asked, looking towards the curtain-covered window as he took his cup, the sound still audibly pattering against the glass.

“Mm.” Ash took a sip of the tea. It was hot, burning his tongue a little, but it was good.

“I read on the news it is supposed to rain all weekend.”

“Mm.”

“Ash, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” he said, placing his cup down, “I’m just...tired, I guess. Don’t worry.”

Eiji gave a sympathetic frown. “You work too much.”

“Don’t have much choice,” Ash shrugged.

Eiji sighed, running his finger across the rim of his cup. “I know,” he said. He pursed his lips into a thin line. “But, still...I worry so much about you.”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Ash forced a fake smile, playfully shoving Eiji’s shoulder. “As much as you worry, you’re going to go grey before you’re thirty.”

“Still, I--”

“Besides, I gave the gang the weekend off, you could say.” Ash’s smile grew slightly more genuine. “We have a few days free together.”

“I thought I overheard you saying that. I’m glad.” Eiji smiled.

“I’d take you somewhere,” Ash said, leaning back on the soft, overpowering cushions of the sofa, “But like you said, it’s gonna rain all weekend. It’s supposed to get real nasty tomorrow especially. I'd take you somewhere indoors, but for obvious reasons I don't think it would be good to go into a place with heavy security at the entrance.”

“Right,” Eiji said. He chewed at his bottom lip for a moment before continuing. “But not _everywhere_ is rainy, right?”

Ash raised an eyebrow. “Well, no. It’s probably not raining in, oh I dunno, Texas or something.”

“Well, not _that_ far.” A pout grew across Eiji’s face as he sipped his tea, gripping it with both hands.

“You mean like Brooklyn?” Ash smirked. “Pretty sure it’s raining there, too.”

“I mean _outside_ of the city.” Eiji’s face turned slightly pink with irritation as he continued to pout. “But not as far as Texas.”

“Like Tennessee?” Ash joked. It was hard to resist messing with Eiji, especially when his agitated expressions were so cute.

“ _Ash,”_ Eiji whined, voice somewhat muffled by the rim of his cup against his lips, “You know what I mean.”

“Do I now?”

He sighed a somewhat irritated sigh and placed his cup down. “Let’s go somewhere.”

“Somewhere?”

“Anywhere.”

“ _Anywhere_ includes a lot of shitty places.”

“Anywhere nice, then,” Eiji frowned, “Out of the city, but close enough for a weekend trip.”

“Weekend trip?”

“Yes, a weekend trip.” Eiji rolled his eyes. “It would be good for us. For you.” 

“Eiji,” Ash said, his playful expression fading, “You know how risky that could be.”

“Is it not less risky than going around New York?” Eiji asked.

“Well, we don’t go around much for a reason.”

“Ash,” Eiji said, putting a hand on the other’s knee, “I think that it would be good to get out. To think about something else...not all of _this_.” He gestured out vaguely towards the surrounding room. Ash couldn’t help but crack a smile, even if it was inappropriate for how serious Eiji was trying to be.

“Okay, say we did,” Ash said, “Where would we go? Another city?”

The inch Ash gave made Eiji’s face lit up. 

“I have been doing research for some time about places New York residents do weekend vacations--”

“Of course you have.”

“--and I have found a place only two hours away in Long Island. If it is not rainy there, then maybe we could go? It has beautiful beaches and you can rent a house!”

“You’ve really been spending your days holed up here looking for a vacation.” Ash really didn’t know what to make of that.

“N-Not _all_ the time,” Eiji insisted, “Just some of the time! When I am free. I just...I knew it would likely not be possible, but I still wished to imagine it.”

“Fine,” Ash groaned, standing up. Eiji’s eyes sparkled. “I’m _not_ saying yes. It’s probably too risky. Not to mention how hard it is to book anything last minute.” Eiji’s eyes continued to sparkle. “But I _am_ saying you can show me. Maybe not for this weekend, but something to _think_ about.”

“Alright!” Eiji bounced up from the sofa.

“I mean it. Don’t look at me like that, we probably can’t go. Just _show_ me.”

\---

“This is going to be so much fun!” Eiji gripped Ash’s hand.

“I can’t believe you talked me into this.”

The little house they rented out in Sag Harbor, a small little village in The Hamptons on Long Island. It was a cute two story cottage near the beach and town that Eiji picked out for them on one of those vacation rental websites, one of few that were open to be rented out on such short notice. Ash reluctantly reserved it under his Chris Winston moniker and called the owners just to be sure.

He never really thought about The Hamptons much. Dino liked to go on occasion in a house the Corsian Mafia owned, but Ash had never been brought along. He never felt like he was missing out by not going. He was _from_ the New England seaside, after all, being born in Cape Cod. He knew the vibe was supposed to be different, but said vibe didn’t exactly appeal to him. It was a place where a lot of rich cityfolk went to spend their weekends and other rich people lived in with their giant seaside mansions. It was the sort of pretentious lifestyle Ash wasn’t interested in, even if he did move into a million dollar high rise condo not too terribly long ago.

Still, Eiji _really_ wanted to. He didn’t know how he managed to get his way with Ash so frequently.

“I’ll show you in then,” the landlady smiled at them, shaking her keys for effect. She was an older woman with wispy white hair and a kind smile. She insisted on taking their one bag for them, despite Ash’s protests. 

“Thank you!” Eiji said, nodding a little too enthusiastically. She laughed and walked slowly up the long driveway. Eiji followed suit, pulling Ash along. His grip was a little too tight for Ash’s comfort, but the bounce in his step and smile on his face was enough for him to get past that.

“Just a second,” she said, chuckling at the overeager puppy dog that was Eiji. She stuck her key into the light blue door and opened it.

The interior of the home was very quaint, much like the outside. It was very clean, with furniture that was mostly white and blue, fitting in with the seaside coast aesthetic. The walls were white, but it didn’t have the feeling of emptiness that so many white walls did, instead helping it feel more bright, something already achieved by the big windows.

Bright was a good way to describe this place. 

“We have a full kitchen and two bedrooms,” the lady explained, walking them into the kitchen, “We also have a grill in the back that you can use. If you have any problems with any appliances or anything, feel free to call the number on the fridge. The wifi password should be there as well.”

“Thank you!” Eiji said, nodding a little too eagerly.

She chuckled again. “I’m leaving two sets of keys on the counter, alright?” she said, “Enjoy yourself now, Mr. Winston and uh--”

“Eiji!” he said, once again a little too eagerly. She continued to laugh and saw herself out. As the door shut behind her, Ash and Eiji were left alone in the bright white unfamiliar kitchen.

“This is very nice!” Eiji said, looking at the silver new appliances. He headed to the sheet of paper on the fridge with his phone to connect to wifi. The paper had anchors and seashells on it. This house really went in on the seaside theme. 

“Make sure you’re careful,” Ash warned, “We don’t want someone to track that we’re here.”

“Of course I’m careful,” Eiji assured him, “Let’s have fun and not worry. We are in a nice place and should enjoy ourselves.” He turned to the appliances. “They even give us a blender to use! So very nice for a vacation home, yes?”

“Eiji, we _live_ in a multimillion dollar apartment,” Ash said, rolling his eyes, “I can buy you any of this for ours.”

“Yes, but _Ash_ ,” Eiji groaned, “We are on a vacation! A vacation home having such things is different!”

“Is it really?”

“ _Yes_!” Eiji insisted.

“If you say so.”

“Don’t be like this!” Eiji frowned, instinctively putting on his pouty face. “We’re on _vacation_.”

“Alright,” Ash sighed, patting Eiji’s shoulder, “Let’s get settled in, okay?”

“ _Okay_ ,” Eiji’s frown faded into a light smile and a sarcastic eye roll. He went to pick up their suitcase the landlady left at the entrance as Ash followed behind. As he leaned over to pick it up, he paused. His face had the lightest pink flush. “This is a two bedroom home, so…did you want to…?”

“We’ve shared a room up until now,” Ash said, shrugging.

“Alright,” Eiji smiled.

The master suite was up the stairs and Ash helped Eiji carry their suitcase up. The bedroom was rather large, though not as large as their one back in the city, and fit the bright white with blue accent colors motif of the rest of the house. It had a massive king sized bed, a little desk, and a chair in the corner. It was calming.

Of course, Eiji interrupted that by letting the suitcase drop to the ground with a loud thump.

“It’s a nice day,” he said, “Let’s go to the beach!”

“So much for getting settled in,” Ash said.

“What else is there to get settled in?” Eiji asked, tilting his head. He nudged towards the suitcase. “We have enough for the long weekend only, yes? I see no reason for us to take everything out.”

“Yeah, but we were just in a car for a few hours,” Ash said. A very run of the mill, grey compact rental car that he managed to get his hands on perhaps not through the kindest means. When he told Max it was urgent that he get an unassuming rental car for him, he may have led him on to believe it was a _bit_ more urgent than to take up to The Hamptons because Eiji wanted a weekend getaway. 

Regardless, the unassuming car, while much safer in hiding their identity than a flashy one, was a little tight with small seats. _Sure_ it was only a few hour’s drive. _Sure_ it wasn’t the worst car he’d been in. _Sure_ , leaving at 8 am was normal for most people that didn’t usually sleep until noon like he tended to. But still, Ash didn’t understand how Eiji managed to always have so much energy all the time. 

“Is that not a good reason?” Eiji asked, “Are beaches not a place to relax?”

“I mean--”

“You can take a nap on the sand!”

“And get a sunburn.”

“I brought sunscreen!” Eiji pouted, going to his knees to unzip the suitcase. He went through some of his clothes to dig it up in the bottom of it. SPF 90. It could definitely be said that Eiji was one for skin safety.

“ _Fine_ ,” Ash relented, “Toss me my swimsuit, will you?”

“Okay!” Eiji said, grinning from ear to ear. He roughly fished through the clothes he not so neatly packed and tossed the pair of trunks to Ash. Eiji picked it out for them when they stopped at a WalMart along the way while Ash waited in the car. It was made of cheap material and a wave pattern. Eiji had clearly picked it for the jade green color that more or less matched his eyes. Ash couldn’t help but grin at the gesture.

“Alright, gonna go get changed then,” he said.

“Okay!” Eiji fished out his own new pair and roughly pulled the tag off of it. “Let’s go in...thirty minutes?”

“Fine by me, I guess.”

Their rental home was only two minutes from the beach. They had to pay for a daily visitor permit to enter, which Ash found ridiculous. Still, Eiji gladly paid for it, so he tried to not complain too much. The beach was officially named Foster Memorial Beach, but Eiji told him that it was commonly known as Long Beach. For good reason, in his opinion. 

“Really narrow beach,” Ash said as they got to the sand.

“It is still very pretty, don’t you think?” 

“I guess,” Ash shrugged, looking at the shoreline, “But the ones in Los Angeles were nicer.” The sand was quite rocky, with a decent amount of driftwood and seaweed littered around. Still, the ocean was a pretty greenish blue color and it was a nice, sunny day with only a few other families and groups about. 

“We were not able to enjoy Los Angeles, though.”

“You’re right,” Ash sighed, “I’m sorry, I’m just--Let’s find a place to lay out our things, okay?”

“Are _you_ okay?” Eiji asked, his big brown eyes full of worry.

“Yeah,” he answered, a little too unconvincingly. Eiji’s worried expression remained in his eyes, but he attempted to smile and went to find them a place to put their things down and lay out their towels. 

“I want to swim,” Eiji said, standing up and turning to the ocean as soon as they spread everything out and got settled.

“Don’t drown,” Ash said, laying down on his towel. 

“Of course not,” Eiji fake pouted. “Plus, there’s a lifeguard. No drowning allowed!” He smirked, pointing over to the lifeguard stand.

“Well, alright.”

“You can join me if you want.”

“Maybe later,” he lied.

As Eiji went running towards the water, Ash tried his best to relax and perhaps get some sleep spread out on the towel. It was comfortable enough, even if some rocks were poking at him from under the towel. The background noises were nice enough. The sound of waves, of seabirds, of groups of people laughing.

Yet still, he couldn’t relax.

After about half an hour or so of trying, he had enough. He stood up and put his sandals on. Maybe a walk would help him take his mind off things. He waved his hands out for Eiji to notice him and pointed in the far direction, signaling that he was going to take a walk. Eiji nodded from the distance. The water was shallow, not even up to his neck. He’d be fine. 

He wasn’t ever the biggest beachbody in the world. He only had a few memories of Griff ever actually taking him down to it on summer weekends when he was very young. They were pleasant enough memories, sure. They’d build sandcastles with a cracked bucket that belonged to Griff when he was young. They usually wouldn’t swim, as many beaches in Cape Cod didn’t allow it due to all the sharks and cold water. But when they did, Griff would hold onto him in shallow water, teaching him how to swim. 

This place was more reminiscent of Cape Cod than he’d hope it would be. More than he’d admit to Eiji.

He had also been forced to go along on quite a few expensive beach vacations with Dino all over the world. Sometimes on a nice Medditeranian beach in Greece in one of his vacation homes. Sometimes on a private island of his in the Caribbean. Other times at a nice five star four seasons resort in Hawaii. He would be touted around, of course. He would be given overly expensive designer swimming suits. Forced to go on frivolous excursions with Dino’s hand always uncomfortably gripping his shoulder.

He hated it. He hated Dino’s _vacations_. Beaches, the entire concept of a nice seaside vacation was more or less ruined for him.

Of course, he couldn’t tell Eiji this. Eiji had been holed up in their apartment for months, asking for virtually nothing before this. His happiness and safety was the most important thing to Ash now. It was only for a weekend. He could handle it. 

The beach was only a mile across in total, so his walk didn’t last too terribly long. When he got back to where they were set up, Eiji was back, sitting on a towel with a clean one around his dripping wet hair.

“Good walk?” he asked.

“Mm.”

“Are you hungry?” he asked, reaching for the beach bag he packed, “I made us both bentos this morning!”

Ash chuckled under his breath. “A little,” he said, sitting down next to Eiji on his own towel, “You really prepared for everything, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” he giggled like a child as he handed over a bento box to Ash. It had Nori Nori printed on it. Of course it did. “I want everything to be perfect for us!”

“With your weird smelly Japanese food?” he said, raising his eyebrows with fake skepticism as he took his box, “I’m not sure.”

“I put shrimp into it!” Eiji crossed his arms. “I focused less on nutrition and everything!”

“Wow, I can’t believe it. You really _are_ into this,” he teased.

Yes, Ash would do his best this weekend. For Eiji.

\---

Ash woke up early the next morning to Eiji calling him down for breakfast. He could instantly smell eggs and bacon even from the upstairs. It wasn’t that common for Eiji to cook them an American style breakfast.

“Where’d you get all this?” Ash asked with a yawn as he made his way down the stairs.

“Good morning!” Eiji greeted him with a wide awake smile, “I went to the store early this morning!” 

“Jesus, it’s only 9 am. I don’t understand how you old folk do it.”

Eiji stuck out his tongue. “You don’t have to eat it.” 

“No, I will,” he said, sitting down at the table. 

“Fine,” Eiji huffed overdramatically and sat at the other seat.

Ash grabbed his fork and took a bite of the scrambled eggs. 

“You should cook American food more often. You’re pretty good at it,” he said. Truthfully, Eiji was always a good cook, even if he liked to give him a hard time. Well, when it didn’t involve natto.

“It’s so unhealthy!” Eiji complained.

“And what was that fatty ramen you had me get at that place a few weeks ago?”

“That was a special occasion. Like now!”

“If you say so,” he said through a full mouth.

Ash didn’t finish his entire plate, as was usual for him. Eiji gave him a concerned look but decided not to make his usual comment on it, instead taking the rest of his bacon to eat himself. Ash was thankful for it, though he wouldn’t admit it.

“What’s the plan for today?” Ash asked, standing up to scrape off his place and put it in the sink. There was a dishwasher, but he was pretty sure there was no detergent to use. He didn’t want to make Eiji clean it up after he was the one who cooked, but he still wasn’t awake enough to want to clean it at that moment.

“I was thinking,” Eiji answered through a mouthful of bacon, “There is a harbor nearby. We can see if any afternoon boat trips aren’t full.”

“You wanna ride a boat?” Ash didn’t exactly take Eiji for the boat riding type.

“Yes!” he said, wiping grease and crumbs off his face with his wrist, “I saw them in Cape Cod, but…obviously at that time...”

“Then let’s do it!” Ash forced a smile. “They might be booked weeks in advance, so I can call around.”

“Thank you!”

As Ash predicted, many were in fact booked way in advance. Others were cruises that left in the morning. Still, after a few attempts he managed to find an afternoon cruise that had a last minute cancellation. A popular tourist boat that went out from the marina for ninety minute cruises. Two pm, be there thirty minutes early. Not a full day cruise or anything, despite in Ash’s opinion having the price tag of what should be, but Eiji seemed enthusiastic about it nonetheless.

They stayed around the house for the morning and got lunch at an independent, yet extremely overpriced, burger joint that was towards the direction of the marina. Eiji picked it out, forgetting that Ash didn’t particularly care for burgers. But it was fine, he only wanted a salad anyway, which they had. Eiji was impressed by the huge “American sized” hamburger that he claimed was the size of his head. He was happy and his reactions amused Ash, so it was a good lunch overall. 

They arrived at the marina right on time to check in. Around them were other groups of tourists, mostly families and young couples. Ash hoped to himself that they wouldn’t try to strike a conversation with them.

“Where are y’all from?” a middle aged, soccer-mom looking woman with a southern accent and three kids under the age of ten asked.

Dammit.

“I’m from Japan!” Eiji said, eager to strike up a conversation, “But we both live in New York--uh, Manhattan--now!”

“I see!” she said with a fake smile. Her prada sunglass-wearing eyes on the other hand looked back and forth at the two of them, as if trying to figure out if they were gay or not. Ash recognized her sundress as Chanel. He wondered why a rich woman like her didn’t just have their own boats to take out.

“And you?” Eiji asked, unable to read her judging stares.

“Georgia,” she answered in a fake sweet voice, “My sister-in-law has a vacation house up the way.”

A rich family, then.

Eiji continued talking to her obliviously, of course. Ash decided to put his arm around his shoulder, pulling him in a little more tightly than he normally would. The woman stopped mid sentence and nearly gasped at he did this, but forced herself to politely continue the sentence. Eiji seemed confused, both by Ash and the woman, but Ash couldn’t help but grin.

The actual boat ride was fine enough. Or at the very least, it was how Ash imagined every tourist trap excursion would be. A bunch of white, wealthy Americans wanting to get drunk on expensive cocktails on a crowded boat. The guide was enthusiastic, annoyingly so, laughing as the tourists threw quips at them. For some reason, Eiji thought it was the funniest thing ever.

“Americans are very open people,” Eiji told him.

“A little _too_ open, don’t you think?” Ash said, sipping the Budweiser he ordered. He spilled a little of it on the collar of his t-shirt as they hit a wave.

“Are you not having fun?” Eiji asked.

“I’m--Yeah, it’s fun,” he said. He wasn’t even remotely convincing, but Eiji didn’t press him further.

“Do you like boats?”

“They’re fine.”

And they were, he supposed. One of his earliest memories was sitting on the front of his father’s tin motorboat. It was a very foggy morning in Cape Cod and the waves were rough, but his father put a life vest around him. He didn’t speak much to him, just controlling the boat as the loud motor played. As he stopped to put out his fishing rod, he handed him a brown sack lunch--a lunch meat sandwich. A pretty uneventful morning, but probably the most positive memory he shared with his father.

Of course, he had also been on yachts with Dino on multiple occasions. Naturally, none of those outings had any good memories to speak of. It was odd in a way that the _better_ boat memory involved his deadbeat father. But it was what it was.

When the boat finally returned to the dock, all the drunk tourists stumbled out with their loudmouth children. Eiji wasn’t drunk but he was just as giddy as the rest of them. Ash gripped his arm as a signal for them to let others go out before them.

“I’m tired,” Ash said, “Do you want to go back?”

“Oh?” Eiji asked, a little disappointed, “Don’t you want to walk around the main street a little? Get dinner?”

“You’re hungry after that huge burger?” 

“Well, not really,” Eiji replied, face turning slightly pink, “It’s just...well, our last night and this is a nice area.”

“Fine, then. Let’s walk around.”

Sag Harbor was a very All-American and far less pretentious than many other shopping centers within The Hamptons. _Charming_ would be a good word for it, he figured. Still, Ash wasn’t one for shopping, evident by his choice outfits of plain white shirts and old jeans. But he still shadowed behind Eiji as he went into the novelty shops.

Ash wasn’t sure what Eiji could possibly need a kite for, especially in Manhattan. Yet he insisted on going into a small, crowded kite shop. 

“It’s cute!” Eiji said, gripping on Ash’s wrist a little too tightly as he pushed him in.

“We’re leaving tomorrow,” Ash reminded him as Eiji began to rummage through all the colorful kites in plastic wrap, “If it was the first day or something I’d get it because we could use it at the beach. But what are you going to do with this?”

“It’s still early,” Eiji frowned, “But either way, maybe I want a souvenir! Even if just to look at.”

“Well, if it makes you happy,” Ash relented. Eiji’s frown turned into a crooked grin.

Knowing it could be a while, Ash wandered to the back of the cluttered store. In the back there were miscellaneous toys about, mainly puzzles varying in number of pieces and designs. A puzzle would probably be a better buy for Eiji, he thought as he absentmindedly looked at the various designs. A He could easily do it on their bedroom floor or in their living room table. Maybe Ash would even join in. 

But then again, Eiji would be just as likely to ignore it. Even if he would be into it at first, he would likely get incredibly frustrated with it. He’d whine for Ash to help him out. Ash would end up being the one more into it, and would waste his busy time on it.

On second thought, they didn’t need a puzzle.

Instead, he decided to shift his attention to the other toys and things back there. Weird stuffed animals that he accidentally knocked over and had trouble stacking back up. Fake instruments for children. Some beach toys, including a donut shaped innertube. And...some sidewalk chalk.

It was in the corner. He knocked over some stuffed doll walking over to it. But there it was. A clear blue plastic container full of 52 sausage-like things of chalk. He picked up the container by it’s zip tie-like handle. It was bigger and heavier than the six piece set he knew as a child. But it was only $4.99.

“Add this,” Ash said, plopping it down at the register as Eiji was about to pay for his kite. He picked a $20 one that was roughly the shape of a paper airplane with an American flag design. 

“Chalk?” Eiji asked.

“Yeah,” Ash responded without looking at him, “It’s my _souvenir_.”

Eiji looked confused, but the store clerk happily rang it up with the kite. “But--”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ash cut him off.

“Alright,” Eiji said. The lady gave him the total. Eiji stumbled with his wallet for the exact change, but Ash pulled a crumpled fifty out of his wallet before he could.

“Let’s go.”

They walked silently back to their car in the marina parking lot, Eiji gripping his new kite and Ash holding the chalk in his hand. Eiji was right to question him buying this. It was pretty pointless.

“I had fun today,” Eiji said as he got into the passenger seat.

“Yeah,” Ash responded emotionlessly as he put the key into the ignition. 

“Are you alright?” Eiji asked after a few moments.

“Yeah,” he said again. He turned up the radio. It was the generic pop station he didn’t necessarily care for, but it was background noise. Eiji got the message and didn’t try to press any further or start up another conversation. Thankfully it wasn’t a long drive back to their rental house.

“Are you hungry?” Eiji asked as they pulled into the driveway.

“Not really,” Ash said, turning off the engine and swinging open the door.

“Don’t forget your chalk!” Eiji said, reaching for it in the back seat.

“Right. Thanks.” Ash took it from him.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah.”

Eiji sighed, unbuckling his own seatbelt and getting out of the car with his kite.

“Why don’t you fly it now?” Ash asked, nodding his head towards the kite in his arms.

Eiji held out a hand in front of him. “It’s not very windy,” he concluded.

“Still, better chance to fly it here than in Manhattan.”

“I told you, I wanted it more to remember this by,” he said, “But I can try if you try with me.”

“I’m good.”

“Then I don’t want to.” Eiji was clearly getting annoyed with his attitude. Knowing him, he probably was going to go off after a few more exchanges into the conversation. To be fair, Ash wasn’t exactly doing it on purpose. He didn’t _want_ to be curt with Eiji. 

“Fine, then don’t.” Once again, more curt than he meant to be. So much for diffusing a potential Eiji rant.

“You know,” Eiji said, “I wanted to have this trip for you. I felt like it would be good for you. But this entire time, you seem miserable.”

“I’m not.”

“Well, you’re not having fun!” his voice raised, “You’re not telling me what you want to do! I try to decide things you might like, but you don’t say that it is something you are not interested in!”

“Eiji, c’mon--”

“All you’ve done for yourself is buy chalk, and you will not even tell me why!”

Ash’s grip tightened on the handle of the chalk container, digging into his skin. “It’s nothing,” he said.

“It’s _not_ nothing!”

“It’s just--I just...It just reminded me of something, alright?” Eiji’s eyes grew large. “Nothing traumatic or whatever,” Ash assured him, “Just...I dunno, I just remembered Griff buying me chalk as a kid.”

“Oh,” Eiji said, voice barely audible.

“Yeah,” Ash shrugged, “He didn’t have a lot of money, so it was one of the few toys I had.”

“So you played with chalk together?”

“No.” Ash shook his head. “I...Well, it was raining when we left the store. It was spring, and Cape Cod tends to be pretty foggy anyway. He had to work a lot, but it turned out the few times he was free it always seemed to rain. Then he joined the military and...well, I dunno, I just kinda forgot about it.”

“I see.” Eiji lowered his head. “I didn’t--”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Just my pointless, unusable souvenir I guess,” Ash said, giving a crooked grin.

Eiji continued looking down in contemplation, his lips in a tight line. Clearly coming up with something, he raised his head and looked Ash directly in the eye.

“No,” he said, “Not unusable. We will use it now!”

“Now?”

“Yes,” Eiji said as he walked over to him, reaching for the container of chalk from Ash’s hand. He let go, letting him take it. “We have a long driveway here!”

“Eiji,” Ash said, “This isn’t our house. We’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

“There’s a hose in the back,” Eiji assured him, “We can wash it all down.”

“Eiji, I--”

“We’re doing it!” Eiji insisted. He found an open spot of the driveway and dropped to his knees. He ripped the cardboard sleeve and opened the container, going for an orange piece of chalk.

“Eiji, c’mon inside--”

“If you won’t play with me, I’ll play on my own!” Eiji said, scribbling something into the pavement.

“Just a minute ago you said you wouldn’t fly a kite unless I did with you.”

“That was then.”

“You’re impossible. _Fine_.” With a groan Ash went over to him, sitting down on the driveway next to him. Eiji continued drawing, but cracked a smile as Ash joined him. 

Ash didn’t know where to start. He was never an artist, never one to really doodle. He was sure he could draw stick figures, but that was about it. He grabbed a green chalk and started drawing a swirly line. A snail should be easy enough to not mess up.

“Done!” Eiji declared, putting the orange chalk back and wiping dust off his hands.

“What the hell is that supposed to be?”

“A lion!” Eiji frowned, “Is it not clear?”

“Why is there a baguette in its mouth?”

“That’s his teeth!”

“Oh,” Ash blinked, “I guess I see it now.”

Eiji scowled and pulled out a purple chalk, beginning to sketch something else. Ash couldn’t help but laugh.

The two ended up drawing far longer than either of them intended. One of the yellow chalks had already been worn down halfway, with many other pieces cracking in half. The entire driveway became littered with the childlike sketches of two adult men. Eiji stuck to drawing hearts and geometric shapes after Ash teased his lion, while Ash tried to get more creative making poorly drawn houses and cars and even a rocket ship. He was most proud of his stick figure drawing of the two of them holding hands. Truly an artistic masterpiece. Eiji found it hilarious, collapsing on his back with laughter.

“Hey, stay there for a minute,” Ash said. He quickly grabbed a blue chalk and began drawing on either side of him.

“Don’t get it on my shirt!” Eiji said.

“You already have chalk all over your face and hands,” Ash laughed, “I think that’s inevitable.” He did a few more strokes and then he was done.

“What is it?” Eiji asked, “Can I sit up?”

“I gave you wings,” Ash said proudly, “For you to fly more properly. No more falling in some dumpster or something.”

Eiji sat up and looked at it. Two childishly drawn angel wings on either side of where he had been laying. He grinned mischievously. “My turn. Lay down!”

“Just don’t make it weird.”

Eiji grabbed a yellow chalk and drew lines around his head and a long one near his right upper leg. He was a lot quicker than Ash was, although he ended up snapping another piece of chalk. He could sure be rough with those things.

“You’re a cat!” Eiji announced, collapsing back down in between the two wings Ash drew for him.

“Oh, you went the predictable route.”

“Hush,” Eiji teased, poking his face.

“Don’t get your chalky hands all over me!” he teased back.

“Well, we will need to clean up a lot, anyway.”

“Yeah,” Ash sighed, sitting up, “We should probably clean all this up before it gets too late. Nice landlady or not, she probably won’t like all this shit on her driveway.”

“Okay,” Eiji said, standing up. He brushed his chalk covered hands on his pants. “I can go bring the hose.”

“I’ll pick up the billion pieces of chalk you shattered everywhere. You’re sure rough with that shit.”

“You were too!” 

“Whatever you say,” he laughed. Eiji rolled his eyes and began to walk towards the house and to the backyard. “But, Eiji…”

“Hm?” he stopped to turn around.

“Thanks,” Ash said, “This is the best vacation I’ve been on.”

Eiji smiled. “I’m glad.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I based all the locations/buildings/businesses off of real ones, but I don't want to link someone's actual AIRBNB home and random small businesses, but if you're interested you can message me on my Twitter/Tumblr @ wintergrew. I've never actually been to The Hamptons so apologies for those who have if my potrayal feels off LOL.
> 
> Thank u to my friend cola for being my beta.
> 
> Art is by prologhe! Go check her out!!!!


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